In a sign of conflict spreading across the Middle East, Israel announced this morning that it has launched an offensive against Hezbollah, the militant Iranian proxy group in Lebanon, in response to the group launching missiles at Israel in retaliation for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s killing.
The Israeli army reported later this morning it has “precisely struck a senior Hezbollah terrorist in Beirut,” without elaborating.
The Israeli army’s chief of the general staff, Eyal Zamir, said earlier that Israel “must prepare for many prolonged days of combat ahead.”
Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes on Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, today. Hassan Ammar / AP
An apartment building that was hit in an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburb, Lebanon, today. Hussein Malla / AP
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Hezbollah will pay a “heavy price” for attacking Israel.
“Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, who decided on the firing under pressure from Iran — is from this moment a marked target for elimination,” Katz said in a statement on X. “Whoever follows the path of Khamenei will soon find himself alongside him in the depths of hell, together with all those eliminated from the axis of evil,” he added.
